I've started, and deleted this blog at least ten times now over the past few days, and each time it's taken a completely different direction. Should it be about me? Should it be a simple introduction into what I'm doing and why? Should it be about photography in general? Should it be about the subjects of my photos?

My conclusion is, yes. All of the above. I'm stepping out into a new and exciting chapter in my life, (a new career in professional photography) and I'd like to share the journey with anyone interested in following along. I have no idea where it will lead, but that's the exciting part. If you know me, I'm a "go with the flow" kind of guy, so I'm not sure how often I'll blog yet, and it will probably change in format many times.

I'm in the process of putting all the "photography business" pieces in place, and it's a bigger undertaking than I thought it would be. I've always been a passionate photographer, to the point of obsession at times, (the value of my camera equipment usually exceeds the value of my car significantly) so I figured I'd pull a few pictures out, put together a portfolio, and be off and running. Lots of people do just that, but I decided if I truly wanted to make it a career, then I needed to do it right.

I've spent the last year or so educating myself. My formal education is in fine art, so things like composition, color theory, and design elements are things I understand. I also consider myself a good "people" person, but the specifics of how to run a session, and what the workflow should be were things I hadn't thought of. The business and legal aspects of photography were the biggest challenges. But today, you can get an education on line. I stumbled onto resources like Kelby training, and Creative live, and subscribed as soon as I could scrape together the money, and It's been worth every penny spent.

My photography has evolved so much that I decided to start a portfolio from scratch, so that forced me to decide exactly what I wanted to shoot. That was easy; people. Not just pictures of what they look like, but photographic records of who they really are. Even more than that, I want the subject to see that they are beautifully and wonderfully made.

That leads me to where I am now. I have a portfolio well underway, I'm getting the business and legal stuff (yuck) together, and I'm continuing workshops with some of the world's leading photographers. I'm taking my cues from the photographers at the very top of the profession, but trying to put myself, and my personal vision into each session I shoot.